


Quiet

by cys



Category: Voltron: Lion Voltron
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-13
Updated: 2010-09-13
Packaged: 2017-10-11 18:24:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/115523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cys/pseuds/cys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After battle, they share a quiet moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Quiet

Notes: Somehow, I found myself volunteering to participate in a lyric wheel challenge in the Voltron fandom. *coughs* Horribly floofy and un-beta-ed because, well, I couldn't believe I was writing a Voltron fic.   
Date originally posted: 5/21/03

 

"Keith! Watch out, bogey coming in at 4 o'clock!"

I didn't take my eyes off the Doom fighter in my sights when I heard Lance's warning and fired a quick series of pulses from my laser canons before asking Black to perform a hard roll to the left while braking. I continued the roll until I could spot the new target and fired again as I put on the speed for a quick sprint up behind the exploding fighter. I dashed through the debris and gained some altitude.

"Got it. Thanks, Lance." I added a silent thanks to my Lion and took a couple quick seconds to assess the battle screen and readouts from the other Lions. Despite the overwhelming number of enemy fighters, we were doing pretty well. A few narrow calls, but no permanent damage yet. Yet. I knew that we were good but they definitely had numbers on their side. Eventually, we'd get tired and start making small mistakes. It was only natural.

I gave the controls of Black a pat, flicked on the transmitter for our most secure line, and then dived back into the fray, swooping in behind the two fighters dogging Blue's trail. Seconds later, Blue flashed its thanks and went in hot pursuit of another group of fighters.

"Alright, team, listen up. Even though there's a fucking bucketload of fighters out there, their performance makes me think they're mostly being piloted by drones. Which means—"

"Which means we need to take out the communications ship." Hunk's voice was filled with resignation when he interrupted. Black shook from the concussion of the blast from Yellow's latest kill. Even while in the middle of a hard battle for our lives, I still had to chuckle. We'd all been doing this for much too long to not recognize the battle plan being used. One thing you could not accuse the legions of Doom with was originality. Yeah, the robeasts always had new and exciting ways to try and destroy us, but the actual battle strategies and tactics used by the other portions of the strike force that accompanied the 'beast-of-the-week used very simple, very predictable formations. Like the one today.

"Ten bucks to the one who can tell me where it is."

I heard Lance snort. "Lemme guess, Skip. It's in the middle of that huge cluster-fuck off to 3 and a half from you."

"You guessed it, Lance."

"You'd think they'd try and mix it up a bit considering how many times we've kicked their ass, Cap'n," Pidge said jigging like mad to evade fire from a trio of close fighters before the Princess took them out..

"That would be assuming that the Drules were smart, Pidge"

"Now that's not very diplomatic, Princess."

"Diplomacy can take a flying leap into the castle moat. Let's give these creeps a roaming they'll never forget." The Princess sounded entirely too much like Lance.

"It's 'reaming', Allura, 'reaming'," Lance said. Red started to weave its way back to my general position. He always could read my mind. And the princess had been hanging out with Lance way too much, lately.

I tapped in a series of coordinates and sent them over to the team. "Okay, Princess, Pidge, and Hunk, you three go to the first coordinate and then break off to the other ones to fire your missiles. Lance and I will follow them in to take out the communications ship. After that, it should be easy to mop up the remaining fighters actually being piloted and we can go home."

"You have my royal approval to let the ass-kicking commence!"

Wild cheers and whistles filled the radio and we sprang into action.

* * * * *

I flew Black into the Castle's maintenance bay and noticed that all the leaves were brown in the castle gardens. Winter had definitely settled in on Arus, dulling all the brilliant colors that were evident in the other three seasons. Landing next to Blue, I turned everything off and just sat back for a few moments with my eyes closed. I took some deep breaths and tried to stretch the muscles in my arms and shoulders before getting up. Unbuckling the harness was harder than it should have been - I didn't even want to imagine what the climb out was going to feel like. It was only with the thought of how nice a long hot shower followed by a bowl of hot soup and some bread would be that I was able to drag myself out of my chair and out to where the others were sprawled on various benches or on the floor.

I leaned against a convenient wall and hid a wince, knowing I wouldn't be able to get up again if I didn't stay standing. I took in the various scorch marks on the Lions from the battle today, and some from previous encounters. The past few weeks had been one fight after the other, with barely enough breathing space in between. It was starting to tell. Fatigue was hovering over everybody. I could see it in the set of everyone's eyes and mouth, and from the way that everyone looked like they were hiding back winces every time they moved.

"C'mon, Skip. Stop thinking and let us know the schedule for tomorrow so we can go collapse in more comfortable settings."

I shook my head and suppressed the grin tugging at my lips. "Nothing scheduled for tomorrow. I want everyone to rest up as much as possible for the next few days."

Pidge blinked slowly. "Wait a minute. Did I get knocked in the head 'cause I could've sworn Keith just gave us a two-day break. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. On the contrary, in fact. I don't mind at all." Pidge cut himself off from babbling.

"It's either that or someone replaced our Keith with a pod person." Lance turned his head on the bench he was currently occupying and rolled into a sitting position. "Either way, I'm taking the chance to sleep in starting now."

"Help me up, Lance. I'll walk with you," Pidge said.

Allura looked up at me and I nodded, offering my hand. "The team deserves a break, Princess. I don't think any of us have gotten a decent night's sleep in the past week," I said.

She smiled and pulled herself up, leaning in to kiss my cheek. "Thank you, Keith."

I watched as she walked to the door, where Lance and Pidge were waiting. Lance threw an arm around the princess and Pidge. Pidge threw off the arm and stuck his tongue out at Lance before dashing through the opening doors. The doors swooshed closed again so that I could no longer see that Lance still had his arm around the princess. I shook my head and turned to the remaining member of the team that was always the last to leave.

"That includes you, Hunk. The repair crews can do the systems checks and start on the basic repairs. I don't want you in this bay again until after lunch tomorrow. Understood?"

Hunk didn't bother to take his head out of the open repair panel he already had open on Black. "I'm surprised you can even move, Skip. When were you gonna tell me the inertial dampeners were damaged in Black?"

The sounds from the handheld diagnostic computer went silent when I didn't answer and Hunk leaned back to glare at me. "You were planning on telling me, Skip, weren't you?"  
Hunk said, his voice low and calm.

I winced and looked away. "I didn't want to trouble you with minor details like that."

"Minor details?" Hunk threw down the mag-tool he was using and buried his fingers in his hair. "Dammit, Keith! Failures in initial dampeners are not 'minor details'! Unless you think it's all in a day's work to be flattened into human stew by the heavy gees the Lions are subjected to?"

"It wasn't that bad, Hunk. Really." I stole a page about of Pidge's book and opened my eyes wide. It usually worked whenever the youngest member of the team filched the last muffin at breakfast but was only earning me an eye-roll.

"Cute, Keith, cute. How much were the dampeners affected? Don't even think of lying to me, Skip." Hunk turned back to the repair panel.

Damn. Hunk could be even worse than Lance, sometimes. Since I've known Lance since our Academy days, I knew exactly what to say to him to get him off my back. Hunk…well, there was nothing I could do or say that would make Hunk back down. He was like a dog with a bone once he got going.

"From the bruises I got, I think they're at about seventy-five percent," I said and shrugged. That was still within acceptable limits.

Hunk stilled and closed the panel. He wiped his hands on a cleaning rag, turned, and started to walk towards me. Walk, perhaps, wasn't quite the right word for his advance. It was more of a stalk, really. I was surprised enough that I took a couple of steps back to try and keep some distance. It didn't work.

I blinked up at Hunk. "What?"

Hunk snorted and crossed his arms. "Take off your shirt."

"What?"

"You heard me, Skipper. Take off your shirt. I need see how bad the bruises are."

"Why?"

Hunk growled. "Keith."

I sighed and started to unfasten the top of my flight suit. "Fine, fine, if it'll get you off my back," I muttered and shrugged out of the sleeves, pulling off my undershirt.

I tossed the undershirt at Hunk and spread my arms. "There. Happy, now?"

I saw Hunk track and pause at each visible bruise on my chest. I raised an eyebrow and turned so that he could see the ones on my back as well. Hunk's eyes fell to my legs sand I snorted. "No way am I dropping my pants for you, Hunk."

Hunk's eyes flew up to meet mine. He opened his mouth and then closed it, grinning instead. "Those have gotta hurt, Skip. Hold on a sec."

Hunk walked over to one of the storage cabinets along the wall and rummaged around before coming back with a small container in his hands. I eyed the milky-green substance. Memories of some of Nanny's home remedies floated up from my mind. "I don't have to eat that, do I?"

Hunk laughed and unscrewed the container. "Nope. Just sit on a bench, Keith."

Still dubious, I sat, straddling the nearest bench and leaned down on my arms. I tensed up when I felt Hunk's fingers on my shoulders but relaxed when the touch was warm, instead of the cold I was expecting. He must have warmed up the goop, first.

"I got this from an old Academy buddy of mine who was studying to be a field medic. He says it's this old Earth herbal rub that works wonders on sore muscles."

I sighed and closed my eyes. Whatever the stuff was, it seemed to be working. Almost immediately after he rubbed it into my skin, I felt the applied areas warming my muscles and then a spreading coolness soothing the flaring pain in my shoulders and back. I let my head fall to my chest and reveled in the soothing massage.

"Hunk?"

"Yeah, Skip?"

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?" Hunk moved the massage up to my neck and I sagged even further. He certainly knew what he was doing. At this rate, he'd have to scoop up the remains of my body with a spatula.

"Keep positive like you do. I-" I hissed as he hit a particularly tense area at the juncture of my neck and shoulder and continued, "I'm tired, Hunk."

Hunk didn't answer for a few moments, continuing to run his firm touch along my spine, digging in to find, loosen, and then soothe each knot I'd accumulated from the battle.

"When we first lost Sven, I took a walk around the castle and woods. Even after all the constant battles, Arus was beautiful. I could always find some pocket of peace among the trees and out in the open air."

I slumped even further so that I was supporting my weight on my elbows and rested my head on my forearms.

"One day, I walked into a church I saw along the way. It was tiny and rundown but there was such an aura of peace and love in there that I stayed and sat for over an hour just basking in it. I think our souls need that kind of peace every once in a while to go on. I don't think you've felt that for a very long time, Skip. It ain't healthy." Hunk paused. "Lance seems to be getting closer with the princess."

I frowned at the abrupt change of subject. Not trusting my voice, I nodded and my eyes flew open when I felt Hunk wrap his arms around me. "His loss, Keith."

Hunk caught my chin and turned my face so that I could see him. I swallowed and stared at him, his face coming closer and closer. My stomach clenched. I fisted my hands and turned my face away.

"I can't," I whispered.

"Why not?" Hunk asked, cupping my cheek and running his thumb along my lips.

I swallowed. "Not while we're still on mission, Hunk. Not while you're under my command. I – I can't risk it right now."

I closed my eyes and waited, wondering if he would understand – as Lance had been unable to. Hunk pressed a soft kiss on the back of my neck and his arms around me tightened.

"I can wait, Skipper," Hunk said. "Just give me something to look forward to."

I kept my eyes closed as he turned my face again, cradling my face within both of his large, capable hands. Soft pressure against my lips and I sighed, my breath mingling with Hunk's. My stomach unclenched and the tightness moved up into my chest. Hunk pulled away and rested his forehead against mine.

"Just promise me something, Keith."

I nodded, my eyes still closed.

"Don't die on me."

With that, Hunk pressed one last, gentle kiss on my lips and he was gone. I shivered from the loss of his warmth, already missing his strong, solid presence.

"Someday," I said.

"Yes, someday." I heard his voice drift over from near the door.

I waited for several more minutes, and then pushed myself off the bench and to my feet. I needed some sleep. Hopefully, my dreams would be filled with hope and future possibilities. I smiled.

END

The lyrics I got? California Dreaming by the Carpenters. o.O;


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